Smith's Primary Wish: More Time To Woo Condo Voters

WEST PALM BEACH — Jim Smith says he is running harder against the September calendar than against Steve Pajcic, his opponent in the race to be the Democratic nominee for governor.

Smith, who started his campaign in April and has complained repeatedly that some other candidates have been running for years, now wishes he had started earlier. And although Smith says he still expects to beat Pajcic in the Sept. 30 primary runoff, it's clear he is worried.

''I wish to God it was about 90 days till the runoff,'' Smith said during a campaign swing through South Florida. ''I wish we had more time. Time would be on our side.''

Faced with a fledgling South Florida campaign organization that can't compete with Pajcic's condominium-powered political machine, Smith is feeling frustrated. And true to his character, he is unabashedly voicing his concerns. ''If I could get to every group and tell them my story, I could get them all, even the condominium people,'' Smith said. ''Everybody sees me as a big crimefighter and pro-death penalty, but they don't see beyond that.''

Smith's biggest worry as the runoff approaches is a high turnout in South Florida. Pajcic began courting South Florida condominium leaders in early 1985 and has managed to win over virtually every one of them. That is important because the 100,000 to 135,000 voters who live in southeast Florida condominiums tend to vote in blocs, following the directives their leaders print on miniballot ''palm cards.''

''I'm just expressing some frustration with this condominium vote where the people are smart people, but it's this ward kind of situation like New York,'' Smith said. ''To try to go in where we know they're going the other way and go in cold turkey, there's just not time for that.''

In the first primary on Sept. 2, Smith fared poorly in South Florida, far behind front-running Pajcic and third-place finisher Harry Johnston. That was hardly surprising; Smith did little campaigning in the region, opting to solidify his strong North Florida base and court voters in Central Florida.

Pajcic moved quickly after the primary to pick up the support of condominium leaders who had been backing Johnston, leaving Smith with little reason to campaign among the highrises.

''Steve is going to have the advantage with the condo vote,'' Smith said. ''We just can't get in there. He was there early and he lived with them down there for weeks. I have an image problem with the condo voters that is not deserved. But I don't have enough time to really do anything about it.''

Smith's campaign manager, Steve Wilkerson, said his candidate is not as down as he sounds. ''He's just tired,'' Wilkerson said. ''We've been working him real hard. We're very encouraged about what's going on. We're closing the gap.''

Smith finished the primary with 31 percent of the vote, compared with 36 percent for Pajcic. Johnston, president of the Florida Senate, drew 26 percent. Fewer than 30 percent of the voters went to the polls in that election, about the same number expected to vote in the runoff.

Voters in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties account for 31 percent of the potential statewide Democratic vote. In the Democratic primary, 28 percent of the votes came from those three counties.

Among Smith's liabilities with the liberal, mostly Jewish condominium dwellers is his thick Southern drawl that creates the impression of a classic good old boy. Add to that his reputation for being tough on the death penalty and more conservative than Pajcic. Topping off his problems is that he beat two Jewish candidates in the 1978 attorney general's race, his first statewide campaign.

To counteract his image, Smith got former Rep. Marshall Harris of Miami to serve as his running mate. Harris, who is Jewish, has been out of public office since 1974, but is considered well-known in South Florida political circles. Smith campaign aides are hoping Harris can do more for them in the runoff than he did in the first primary.

''I've been going around telling people I'm Jewish,'' Harris said. ''They say to me, 'Funny, you don't look Jewish.' But I am, I tell them, I am.''

A television ad featuring Harris will be running in South Florida to make voters aware that he is the only candidate on any ticket for governor from southeast Florida.

Last Tuesday, two weeks before the runoff, Smith and Harris met at a Miami Beach hotel with a small group of local political activists. Helping in the effort were two Jewish lawmakers -- Reps. Elaine Bloom, D-Miami Beach, and Ron Silver, D-North Miami Beach -- who were supporting Johnston until he was defeated.

''We have begun now the organization in Dade County that perhaps we should have had for a long time,'' Harris said, ''but that wasn't in the cards.''

Also helping Smith is former Sen. Paul Steinberg of Miami Beach, who acknowledges the condo vote will be difficult to crack.